


photo-proofed kisses i remember so well

by zambonied



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: (but it's actually 7+1), (like. so much.), 5+1 Things, Established Relationship, Kissing, M/M, copious amounts of fines, obscene amounts of pda, they actually play some (pond) hockey in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28516818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zambonied/pseuds/zambonied
Summary: Within half a second, Dex is wide awake.He pats Nursey’s shoulder a few times where his hand can reach it. “Nurse, wake up.” Nursey just grumbles and burrows deeper into Dex’s chest. “Nursey, you have to wake up, this is important.”Nursey makes another unwilling noise. “What could be so important at, like, seven in the morning?"“It’s ten,” Dex corrects, “and the team knows. About us.”That gets Nursey to lift his head and look at Dex, a confused frown pulling at his eyebrows. “What? How?”Or, seven times Nursey and Dex's kisses end up in pictures, and one time they don't.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 19
Kudos: 201





	photo-proofed kisses i remember so well

**Author's Note:**

> happy new year!
> 
> a couple of months ago i realized there really aren't all that many fics with emo song lyrics as titles, so i went on my merry way and combed through my favorite emo songs. and now here we are.
> 
> biggest possible thanks to [evan](https://scottishsafehouse.tumblr.com) and [jo](https://deniceford.tumblr.com) for holding my hand through the editing process and cheering me on every step of the way!
> 
> without further ado. have fun with these sappy idiots
> 
> title from g.i.n.a.s.f.s. by fall out boy

_ one. _

“Hey.”

Nursey’s voice, still kind of raspy from yelling along to the music earlier, comes from right next to Dex’s ear, breath hot against his neck as Nursey presses up against his back for a split second. This is where Dex shivers, usually, but he manages to pull himself together in front of the new freshmen he’s been talking to. Nursey’s hands ghost along Dex’s elbows as he sidesteps him and joins them.

“Sup, Nurse,” Dex says and tries for nonchalant, like his eyes haven’t been on Nursey all night, as the freshmen alternate between a casual  _ hey  _ and awkward waves.

“What were you guys talking about?” Nursey asks, leaning more of his weight against Dex’s side than his level of tipsiness really calls for. Dex leans back.

One of the freshmen—Sully, Dex thinks, but it’s fine, he still has some time to get the hang of everyone’s names—launches right back into the story of his summer. Out of his periphery, Dex sees Nursey nod along, but he has that look on his face that means he’s not really paying attention. 

Nursey came here for a reason and Dex is pretty sure listening to the new freshmen’s stories isn’t it. He’s only a little above counting the minutes until Nursey breaks.

Sure enough, when the guy next to maybe-Sully—Elijah?—starts to debate which flavor of Gatorade is superior, Nursey cuts in and says, “Sorry, guys, but I need to borrow Dex for a moment, someone broke something in the kitchen.”

Dex is pretty sure nothing is broken anywhere in the Haus or else he would’ve heard about it already, but before he can say anything, Nursey grabs his elbow and pulls him away from the group and through the crowd. His suspicions are confirmed when Nursey takes a hard right that leads them to the other, fairly empty end of the living room instead of the kitchen once they’re out of the freshmen’s line of sight.

And then there’s a wall against Dex’s back, Nursey’s hands at his hips and their faces just inches apart.

“Hey,” Dex grins, wrapping his arms around Nursey’s shoulders.

Nursey doesn’t waste time replying, just leans in to kiss Dex, hot and urgent. Dex only has, like, two reservations about this, but he’s already three drinks in and Nursey’s mouth is right there, so he kisses him back just as eagerly.

A low noise that Dex would usually be embarrassed about escapes him when Nursey bites at his bottom lip between two kisses. He just pushes a hand up to the back of Nursey’s neck and pulls him even closer. 

Nursey’s mouth on his, Nursey’s hands slipping underneath his shirt, Nursey’s body heavy against him makes Dex’s stomach swoop in all the best ways possible. He’d be content to just stay here for the rest of his senior year, actually.

When Nursey pulls away eventually, Dex makes a totally dignified disappointed noise that gets a laugh out of Nursey.

Nursey grins at him and it takes Dex’s breath away almost more than the kisses did. “I wanted to do that pretty much all night.”

Dex laughs and pushes his hand up into the soft buzzed part of Nursey’s hair. They’re still keeping their relationship on the down low. Dex really doesn’t want to fuck up the team dynamic in case they don’t work, but it gets harder and harder to keep his hands—and most often, eyes—off Nursey.

Dex is pretty fucking sure they’ll work out just fine anyway.

“I wanted to do that since you sang  _ Partition _ at me from the fucking coffee table,” Dex says, then kisses Nursey again, short and sweet. “That wasn’t very subtle.”

When Nursey started to yell along with Beyoncé while Dex was talking to the new freshmen about whatever-the-fuck, holding Dex’s gaze the whole time, Dex couldn’t tear his eyes away for the life of him. He missed a good chunk of the conversation.

“Chill, no one was paying any attention,” Nursey reassures him and presses another swift kiss to his lips.

“I lost my train of thought for the entire five minutes,” Dex complains, “I’m pretty sure the freshmen were super suspicious.”

Nursey chuckles. “Good.”

Dex makes sure Nursey sees him roll his eyes before he pulls him in again. Nursey goes easily, kissing him like they never stopped at all.

Dex is vaguely aware of the rest of the team, past and present, around them. Holster and Ransom are yelling somewhere near the living room doorway, Dex is pretty sure he’s seen the Waffles slip out the backdoor earlier, and Shitty’s whooping somewhere to their left, Lardo in tow without a doubt. 

But Nursey’s right here, solid and warm against him as he kisses him with all he’s got, so Dex thinks he’ll be forgiving for not giving two shits about where the others are right now.

Dex dares to drop his other hand from Nursey’s shoulder down to the small of his back, getting Nursey to shift his hips closer. Dex’s hand is about to dip lower, to the waistband of Nursey’s jeans or maybe even lower than that, when they’re interrupted—quite rudely, in Dex’s opinion—by a bright light that Dex assumes was the flash of a phone camera. They pull apart and Dex frowns into the room, Nursey craning his neck too.

He spots Ransom and Holster in front of the couch—a lot closer than he thought, then—with their backs to Dex and Nursey, and Shitty standing in the doorway with a phone in his hand, cursing something about _the_ _fucking flash goddamn_. He sounds annoyed, but Dex doesn’t even have half a mind to care.

Nursey must read his mind, because he steps away from Dex, grabs his hand instead and pulls him toward the stairs that lead up to his room. “C’mon,” he says, like Dex needs any kind of convincing.

* * *

Dex gets woken up by an incessant vibrating noise that reverberates painfully in his head. He groans and throws the arm that’s not trapped under Nursey over his eyes. Maybe it’ll stop soon and he can slip right back into blissful sleep.

A solid minute passes, Dex is sure, but the vibrating still doesn’t let up. He’s surprised and kind of impressed that Nursey hasn’t stirred and mumbled into Dex’s chest yet like he usually does when he gets woken up before he’s ready and willing to be awake.

With a sigh, Dex picks his arm off his face and reaches to his right, patting the desk until he gets to his phone. He pulls it back and wakes up his screen to find a few instagram notifications, some snaps from Chowder and Farmer, and about a million new messages in the team group chat.

He taps in his passcode—his and Nursey’s jersey numbers, but no one needs to know that—and opens the messages.

Within half a second, Dex is wide awake.

He pats Nursey’s shoulder a few times where his hand can reach it. “Nurse, wake up.” Nursey just grumbles and burrows deeper into Dex’s chest. Ah, there it is. “Nurse, you have to wake up, this is important.”

Nursey makes another unwilling noise. “What could be so important at, like, seven in the morning?"

“It’s ten,” Dex corrects, “and the team knows. About us.”

That gets Nursey to lift his head and look at Dex, a confused frown pulling at his eyebrows. “What? How?”

Dex dislodges Nursey as he sits up, reaches for Nursey’s phone on the desk and hands it over. “Apparently we’re in the background of a picture from last night.”

While Nursey tries to unlock his phone, Dex scrolls up all the way to the top of the messages and finds that Ransom sent a picture of him and Holster with their arms around each other’s shoulders and those ugly shutter shades on into the chat.

It all comes back to him then. Shitty’s complaints. Holster and Ransom by the couch.

The message underneath is from Holster, the same picture just zoomed in on two people in the background, clearly making out. And yup, that’s Nursey and him right there, no doubt about it.

“Oh, shit,” Nursey whispers beside Dex as he scrolls through the messages himself and pulls himself up.

“Well, at least we won’t have to tell the others anymore,” Dex says and leans against Nursey’s shoulder.

“You okay?” Nursey asks, dropping his phone and pressing back against Dex. “Like, with them knowing?”

Dex sighs. It feels like a weight lifted off his shoulders, honestly. They haven’t been very subtle with their glances and touches lately anyway, and he’s sick of not being able to hold Nursey’s hand or kiss him in public. “Yeah,” he decides, “I’m glad we don’t have to, like, make an official announcement or whatever.” He turns to look at Nursey. “What about you?”

“Me too,” Nursey agrees as he shifts to press a kiss to Dex’s naked shoulder, close to a mark he’s left a few hours ago.

Dex scrolls further down in the chat and snorts. “What?” Nursey asks.

“Oh, Hops is calling for so many fines, Chowder congratulates us, and Bitty said he’s glad we’ve stopped trying to kill each other.” Nursey moves next to him then, fishing out his phone from between the sheets again. “Nursey,” Dex starts, suspicious, “what are you doing?”

The smirk is audible in Nursey’s voice as he reads out loud while he types. “Au contraire, there’s still a little death. Petite mort, if you will, winky face.”

Dex rolls his eyes and sends a quick _ thanks guys ignore him  _ in the chat before he sets his phone to silent and locks it, returning it and Nursey’s back to the desk. “I really wanna go back to sleep,” he admits.

“ _Please_ ,” Nursey agrees, lying down on his side again. Dex presses up against his back, throws an arm over his waist, and pulls him in as close as he can.

Nursey laces their fingers together over his stomach and Dex drifts off with a smile that he tucks into Nursey’s neck.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ two. _

Nursey’s brain is going to melt and leak out of his ears if he has to look at his screen a minute longer.

He saves his document twice and then once more for good measure, slips his headphones off and he sets his laptop down on the coffee table between his feet. With a groan, he stretches his arms over his head and arches his back, then takes off his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose.

“I’ll go insane if I have to think about Representation in Media for another second,” he grumbles and drops his head onto the back of the couch. If Bitty could see him now, he’d probably faint.

Chowder makes a sympathetic noise next to him, but doesn’t look up or stop typing on his own laptop. Judging by all the pies and cookies Dex is making in the kitchen right now, it’s a mad stressful project.

“How much do you have to write?” Tango asks. Nursey doesn’t have the energy to look up at him across the table. He’s sure Tango will understand.

“Uh, ten pages,” Nursey sighs.

“And how much do you have right now?” It sounds like Tango is moving around in his armchair, the rustling of loose sheets of paper and the thud of something—Nursey’s almost sure he’s seen Tango with a pair of scissors during his last break two hours ago—hitting the floor.

“Like, five.” Nursey throws an arm over his eyes. “And it’s due at midnight.”

There’s another loud thump coming from Tango’s end of the room. Nursey fears he might have Tango’s undivided attention now. “Well, it’s only five,” Tango says cheerfully. “Whenever I have to work on huge projects, I stock up on sugary stuff and isolate myself in my room until I’m done.”

Nursey drops his arm and finally looks up at Tango, who’s sitting cross-legged on the slightly less disgusting armchair, the mess that covered his lap a few hours ago gone. 

Nursey’s actually not sure what Tango’s majoring in. He’s heard him talk about programming stuff with Dex and Chowder on numerous occasions, discuss politics with some of the freshmen, and gush about art history with Bully at the last Kegster. Maybe Tango’s a secret genius, who knows. 

“Please don’t tell Dex I’m breaking the meal plan,” Tango pleads, nerves clear on his face.

Chowder snorts and Nursey waves his hand. “Chill, Tango, Dex is providing half of the things that break the meal plan.” It’s kind of endearing, the way Tango melts back into the armchair with relief.

As if on cue, the smell of rhubarb pie floats into the living room and in the kitchen, Dex slams the oven door shut.  _ Really  _ stressful project then.

Sugar would probably do Nursey good, especially if it’s his favorite pie made by his boyfriend.

“Dex!” he calls out, dropping his head back against the couch.

“What?” Dex yells back and a smile creeps onto Nursey’s face.

“Would you bring me some pie?”

“Get it yourself!”

“Babe,” Nursey whines loudly, “I’m writing a very important paper and I need your pie!”

Dex doesn’t reply again, but before Nursey’s even done pulling his legs onto the couch with him, the floorboards creek and Dex appears next to him with a plate and a fork.

“Hi, Dex,” Tango greets and Nursey’s pretty sure he waves at him. Like, legit waves.

Nursey turns toward him, a wide grin on his face, and Dex rolls his eyes in a way that Nursey now knows is nothing but fond. “Thanks, Dexy,” he says as he puts his glasses down on the armrest and takes the plate from him.

“Yeah, yeah. You can get the next one yourself,” he grumbles as he slides his hand over Nursey’s shoulder onto his neck. “How’s the paper going?”

Nursey just grunts in a way that’s supposed to mean  _ eh it’ll be fine probably _ instead of replying and digs into the pie. It’s still a little warm and so,  _ so  _ good. As always when Dex makes them. 

That gives Nursey a brilliant idea.

“Alright, I’ll leave you guys to it then,” Dex says, strokes Nursey’s neck once, then turns to leave.

“No, babe, wait!” Nursey sets the plate down on the coffee table next to his laptop that’s in sleep mode by now and swallows quickly. “One last thing.”

Dex turns back around in the doorway. “What?”

Nursey leans back against the couch, straining to look at Dex over the headrest. “Kiss me?”

Chowder pretends to gag next to him and, yeah, fair. He deserves that for all the times he’s done the same to him and Farmer.

“You have an important paper to write,” Dex reminds him, as if he could ever forget about the everpresent academic pressure of senior year that’s looming over his head. Nursey thinks Dex might be quirking up an eyebrow, but he’s not leaving.

“Please,” Nursey pouts, jutting his bottom lip out. This usually gets Dex to cave.

He hears Dex heave a sigh and then he’s making his way back into the room. Nursey reaches for him until Dex comes up behind the couch and rests his hands on the headrest on either side of Nursey’s face. With a hand at the back of Dex’s head, Nursey pulls him down.

“Okay, Spiderman,” Dex chirps, but when he finally kisses Nursey, he’s smiling.

Nursey’s about to decide to abandon his paper and just follow Dex into the kitchen when the click of a phone camera going off and a muttered  _ shit, oops _ interrupt them. Dex breaks away and Nursey sits up again, just in time to see Tango with his phone up and a sheepish expression on his face.

“Sorry, guys,” he says, “it’s for my Haus scrapbook.”

“Your Haus scrapbook,” Dex echoes, like he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing.

“Oh, chill, that’s cool,” Nursey nods. He’s been saying that the Haus inhabitants should be more creative. Good to see he’s being listened to.

“Thanks,” Tango beams.

Nursey leans back to look up at Dex and finds him pointing a finger at him. “No. No more kisses until your paper is done.”

“Dex,” Nursey whines, but Dex pays him no mind and retreats back to the kitchen.

The side of Chowder’s hand hits him in the arm, palm up and expectant. “That’s so many fines, by the way,” Chowder declares and grins over at him.

Nursey sighs, pulls out five dollars from his pants pocket and drops it into Chowder’s waiting hand, then he puts his glasses on and picks his pie and his laptop back up. He  _ does _ have five more pages to write and no motivation to speak of.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ three. _

Dex curses when the pin between his fingers misses the wall and pricks into his thumb instead.

“Dex, honey, you okay?” Bitty asks next to him, his giggle faltering.

Dex sticks his thumb into his mouth and sucks at the wound, then he wipes it on his jeans. “Yeah, I’m good, Bits,” he confirms and throws him a smile.

Bitty is sitting on Jack’s shoulders to put up the mistletoe he’s insisted on and Nursey approved without hesitation for their last Kegster of the year, so he’s on eye level with Dex on the ladder. He smiles back at Dex, then turns around and tapes one of the mistletoe in his hand to the doorway into the living room.

From inside, he hears the scraping of the furniture—Nursey made the Waffles move the couch and armchairs out of potential harm’s way—and Nursey’s voice mingled with Louis’s as they pour over the sound system and tonight’s playlist.

Somewhere, Tango and Whiskey are setting up the drinks table, but they’re quiet enough that Dex can’t hear either of them, only sees one of them duck out of the Haus and carry in more bottles every now and then.

Dex actually likes Kegster preparation. He likes the routine of it anyway, likes having a to-do list that he can cross tasks off of as he goes.

He hoists the last string of lights back up to the wall and pins it there, this time without injuring himself. It looks like Jack and Bitty are done too, judging by the truly fine-worthy embrace they’re both currently in. He decides he can let them live today.

Dex is halfway down the ladder when the door crashes open.

“Rans, we gotta go to the kitchen right the fuck now,” he hears Holster yell and Ransom agree behind him, and then they’re rushing past him, throwing him a  _ sup  _ and a fist bump that doesn’t quite connect in their hurry.

“You’re not Nurse,” Shitty says in lieu of a greeting, amusement in his voice. When Dex has both feet back on solid ground and turns around, he sees the matching grin on Shitty’s face.

Dex runs a hand over the sleeve of Nursey’s Samwell hoodie that he stole that morning when Nursey wasn’t looking where the print of the twenty-eight is starting to chip, but Dex doesn’t really care. It smells like Nursey, so he doesn’t plan on taking it off until he absolutely has to.

Before he can stutter out a reply to Shitty, Nursey himself appears next to him.

“Not yet, he isn’t,” Nursey grins, full of confidence, then he leans over and presses a quick kiss to Dex’s cheek.

Dex’s jaw is pretty much on the floor and his face is positively on fire. His brain is about to kick him down the path of picturing Nursey with laughter lines at his eyes, gray strands of hair here and there, and a ring on his finger when Shitty’s voice pulls him back into the moment.

“Hell fucking yeah, bro,” he whoops and scoops them up in one of the tightest hugs of Dex’s life.

When Shitty lets them go, Dex swears he can see a faint, but somehow knowing smile on Lardo’s face that’s gone after he blinks. What she knows, Dex isn’t sure. Everything, probably. Lardo always knew everything when she was still at Samwell, it kind of impressed but also really fucking terrified him.

Then, without warning, Lardo leaps onto Shitty’s back and Shitty’s hands wrap around her thighs immediately. It looks practiced, like they’ve done this a million times before. Hell, knowing them, they probably have. Dex kind of misses having them around all the time.

“On to the kitchen, Knight, before Holtzy and Rans eat all of Bitty’s good shit,” Lardo instructs.

“Later, dudes,” Shitty says and nods to Nursey and Dex before he turns to go. Lardo reaches out her hand and leaves them with high fives that, admittedly, really sting as she’s carried past them.

Shitty hardly makes it to the kitchen before Dex hears Tango yell, “Uncle Shitty! How’s Harvard? What’s the tub juice recipe?”

Dex sighs and Nursey chuckles.

Dex can hardly form the thought of maybe leaning in to kiss Nursey real quick, since they’re alone in the hallway, or maybe pull him into a hug, just to have him close, before the Waffles round the corner of the doorway.

“We’re done,” Bully announces and leans his hip against the wall as Hops comes up next to him, wiping his hands on his pants. “We were gonna head out and change.”

“Sure,” Nursey says and nods. “Thanks, guys.”

When the Haus door falls shut behind Bully and Hops, Nursey rounds on Dex, smirk firmly on his face. “And what are  _ you  _ doing now?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Dex hums and reaches out for Nursey’s waist, “I kind of have this Kegster to go to tonight, but until then I’m free. Why?”

“Well, I could think of something to pass the time.” Nursey leans in, but stops short in front of Dex’s lips. Dex would only have to tip forward the tiniest bit to kiss him, but before he can even move a muscle, Louis is yelling into their ears.

“Everything’s set up, Nursey,” Louis tells them and Nursey sighs, resting his forehead against Dex’s. “And that’s a fine for PDA, boys.”

Nursey pulls away from Dex to turn toward Louis. “And  _ that’s  _ a fine for fining an upperclassman, bro.”

Louis grumbles, but hands over a crumpled dollar bill anyway. As he gets out of the Haus too, Nursey reaches out for Dex’s hand and squeezes gently. “I’m gonna take these funds to Sin Bin. You coming?”

“In a second, I’ll just put away the ladder,” Dex says. “Wouldn’t want you big klutz to trip over it.”

Nursey grins as he jostles him a little, then retreats to the kitchen. Dex has a stupid, fond smile stuck to his face as he folds the ladder up again and carries it under his arm down the hall to their closet. 

When he finally makes it to the kitchen, Shitty and Lardo, Holster and Ransom, and Nursey are sitting at the table, bickering and laughing and chirping each other with pie crumbs flying everywhere because they are, at heart, disgusting hockey players. Jack’s leaning against the kitchen counter, resting his chin on Bitty’s head with his arms wrapped around him, as Bitty fiddles with what looks a lot like a brand new Polaroid camera.

Dex remembers Bitty telling him he’s on a Polaroid kick right now during their last call a few days ago, because that’s a thing they do, weekly phone calls Dex thinks he’d go insane without. 

Bitty and Jack look so happy and in love, and Dex wonders if he and Nursey look like that too, early in the morning when they’re the only ones in the kitchen or late at night when they’re alone on the couch. Dex feels like it every time, either way.

When Bitty notices him in the doorway, he sets the camera down on the counter and steps out of Jack’s arms. “Here, Dex, honey, have some pie,” he drawls as he scoops a piece of pie—cranberry, if he heard Bitty correctly when he barged into the Haus with way more pie tins than they could eat, really—onto a plate and presses it into Dex’s hands.

It’s almost like nothing’s really changed, like no one ever graduated, like Dex isn’t about to graduate himself, like Dex still has all the time in the world with all of his favorite people before he gets thrown into the icy waters of real life with no life jacket on.

He gets one bite into the piece of pie before it gets too much, too overwhelming. He puts the plate down on the counter and points his thumb over his shoulder toward the doorway. “I, uh, I need some air,” he mutters, then turns around and hurries out of the kitchen, through the hallway, and out the front door.

The frosty December air that greets him when the Haus door clicks shut behind him is grounding, somehow, so he pushes the sleeves of Nursey’s sweater up to his elbows. He buries his nose into the collar and breathes in as deeply as his lungs allow him, letting the smell of Nursey’s cologne and his detergent slow down his racing mind as he looks across the street.

Everything he knows will be different this time next year. Hell, things will be different in, like, five months.

In six months he won’t look across the street to see Lax bros crawling around their lawn, won’t look down Frat Row toward the volleyball sorority as Chowder gets back from visiting Farmer. He won’t come home to the Haus every day, won’t walk to and from Faber every other day, won’t work himself to the bone at the gym until Nursey drags him away.

He won’t sit on the team bus for roadies anymore, won’t ever tell Nursey again how gross his loogie spot in the dressing room is while making a show of sidestepping it, won’t make his way through lecture buildings with crowds of awestruck freshmen in his way.

In just six short months, Dex won’t be Dex, number twenty-four, starting defenseman and Captain of the Samwell Men’s Hockey team anymore; he’ll just be William Poindexter, utterly fucking terrified. The rug will be pulled out from under him by May and everything will be different and unfamiliar and there’s nothing he can do to stop it, or to slow time down even just a fraction.

His life will go on, no matter if he’s ready for it or not.

He’s  _ so _ not ready.

Dex takes a shaky breath, grips the railing with such a force he’s surprised it’s not splintering, and feels his eyes start to prickle as the front door opens gently.

“Bitty thinks you hate his pie,” Nursey says and huffs out a laugh as he comes up next to Dex behind the porch railing, bumping their shoulders together.

Dex turns to look at him, and finds a small smile settled on his lips, a little cranberry filling still stuck to the corner of his mouth, hands stuffed into his pockets against the cold.

Maybe, Dex hopes, maybe not everything will be different this time next year. Maybe, if he’s lucky, Nursey will still be right here with him. God, he really hopes luck is on his side.

Dex laughs, a little too late to not be suspicious. “I don’t hate his pie.”

“He almost cried when you sat it down and bailed, I swear.” Dex doesn’t reply, just leans more of his weight against Nursey’s shoulder. “You okay?” Nursey asks after a moment.

Dex shrugs. “I guess.”

“Bullshit. What’s wrong?”

Dex stays quiet for a moment, just shoves his hands into the pouch pocket of the sweater, picking at the hangnail on his index finger inside it. He sighs and Nursey wraps his arm around his waist immediately. “I’m just… I’m kind of freaking out? About the future?”

Nursey hums, encouragement for him to keep going, as he pulls Dex even closer into his side.

“Like, literally everything will change. Everything I know will change and I’m really fucking terrified. I can’t stop thinking about where the hell I’ll be this time next year, you know?”

“I get it,” Nursey says, voice soft and comforting, and God, Dex loves him. “I get that too. But you know what?”

“What?”

“Whatever happens, I know we’ll be together,” Nursey finishes and angles his body toward Dex without letting go of him. “Wherever we end up.”

Dex’s chest feels three sizes too small, filled with hope and promise and so, so much love. “Yeah?” he asks, quiet and fragile.

“Yeah, dumbass,” Nursey confirms and pulls Dex into a hug. “You’re stuck with me,” he says and it sounds a lot like _I love you_.

A laugh bubbles out of Dex before he can stop it. He nuzzles his face into Nursey’s neck and breathes in a couple of times as his hands fist into the back of Nursey’s ugly Christmas sweater that he’s insisted on wearing all day. “You sap,” Dex mutters into his skin and he hopes Nursey hears the  _ I love you too  _ in it.

Nursey squeezes Dex once more and Dex feels like all his pieces that threatened to fall apart a few minutes ago fit together again perfectly. “Ready to go back in?”

Dex’s nose is frozen and most definitely red as hell, his cheeks too, most likely, and his bare forearms are getting kind of numb. “Yeah,” he nods.

Nursey smiles at him again, then tangles their fingers together and leads them inside. He doesn’t let go of Dex’s hand the entire way back to the kitchen.

They barely make it through the doorway before Holster loudly points that they’re under the mistletoe. They both look up and Nursey bursts out with a laugh as Dex looks back at Bitty, just barely keeping the scowl off his face. Bitty shoots him his sweetest, most innocent look, even though he’s the one who taped all the mistletoe up. 

“C’mon, Dex,” Holster whoops, “kiss your man!”

Dex shrugs and turns to Nursey. He lets go of his hand, just so he can cup Nursey’s face with both of them, and pulls him into a kiss. Nursey’s own hands find Dex’s waist immediately as he kisses back, and Dex only vaguely registers Holster and Ransom, and probably Shitty, yelling in the background.

Dex tries his hardest to pour everything he’s got into this kiss. All the love, all the gratefulness, all the promises he can muster. He can tell Nursey is doing the same.

When they manage to pull apart, Dex looks into Nursey’s eyes, so clear and green and full of adoration, and something deep in Dex’s chest feels at home here. Nursey gazes right back as Dex runs his thumbs over Nursey’s cheekbones once, twice, before he manages to tear himself away from him completely.

When he does, he sees Bitty shaking a Polaroid picture and, after a second, he can see Nursey and him kissing on it. That sneaky bastard.

“Yo, that’s  _ such  _ a fine,” Lardo says from the table.

“Double fine,” Shitty agrees.

“Like, triple fine,” Ransom throws in.

“Definitely a quadruple fine,” Holster adds

Nursey laughs and Dex can’t help but smile, even if it turns this into a quintuple fine.

“I want a copy of that,” Nursey tells Bitty, who pulled out a marker from God knows where and is scribbling on the white bottom part of the picture. Probably the date, Dex guesses.

“Sure, honey,” Bitty says and smiles at Nursey. Dex is pretty sure he’s going to steal it from Nursey later and put it in his wallet or on his wall or maybe get it tattooed over his heart.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ four. _

Nursey’s breath comes out in puffs in front of him and the folding chair creaks a little under his weight as he leans forward to tie his skate laces.

Next to him, Dex is checking the tape on both their stick blades. “Everyone came out, even Louis and he’s still out with his knee,” he comments, sounding a little surprised.

Nursey huffs a laugh and gets up off the chair. He turns toward Dex and finds him looking at the frozen-over Pond in front of them, at the freshmen darting across the ice to clean the rest of the snow off, at Whiskey placing broken stick pieces from their last game to mark their goals.

“Yeah, well, you’re a great captain and everyone loves you,” Nursey says and goes to bump their shoulders together. “And shinny’s fun.”

Dex smiles at him and hands Nursey his stick as they step onto the ice.

“Okay, boys,” Dex calls, “warm up laps and then teams of four. Hops, Whiskey, you’re captains.”

Hops makes a little fist pump in excitement as he skates past Nursey. He’s been an integral part of their season—it’s a damn good season too, with an almost guaranteed shot at the Frozen Four again—and Nursey thinks he might make a good team captain after Whiskey graduates next year. With time running past them, Nursey’s been wondering who to give his dibs to and Hops seems like a worthy candidate. 

“Who would win if Dex and Nursey played against each other?” Tango asks from where he’s skating laps next to Whiskey.

Chowder makes an intrigued noise as he stretches in front of his makeshift goal. Nursey will never not be impressed with his splits. “Oh, that would be interesting!”

“Just like Romeo and Juliet, kind of,” Louis says, sitting on his own folding chair on the sidelines, his left leg stretched out in front of him and a professional-looking camera in his hand.

Nursey catches Dex’s gaze. “Winner gets a kiss,” he calls.

He sees Dex roll his eyes and a little grin tugging at his lips. “But we already kiss all the time, Nurse!”

“Ugh, TMI,” Hugs—one of their freshman forwards, Elijah Hughes—comments from next to Dex at the middle of the Pond.

Nursey ignores him. “And the loser has to rinse out both of our sweaty gear!”

Dex smirks. “Deal!”

Hops picks Nursey, along with Bully and their freshman goalie Sully—Joseph Sullivan towers over all of them, even Holster, and had the same reaction to meeting Chowder as Chowder had meeting Jack their freshman year—and Whiskey snags Chowder as well as Dex and Tango.

Whiskey faces off against Hops at what they’ve deemed center ice. He loses, though, and Hops passes to Nursey, right onto his tape. 

Nursey shoulders past Tango and shoots the puck to Bully ahead of him, who finds Hops to his right. Hops manages to sneak the puck past Chowder’s blocker. 

Some of the Waffles on the sidelines imitate Samwell Hockey’s goal horn—they sound more like geese, but it’s the thought that counts, Nursey reasons. 

At the next faceoff, Tango beats Bully. Nursey thinks he’s about to pass to Whiskey, so he blocks him, but Tango changes course at the last second and the puck makes it to Dex’s stick blade.

Whiskey rushes past Nursey then and beats Sully glove-side with the assist from Dex.

As Nursey skates past Dex toward the makeshift faceoff spot, he bumps into his shoulder to wipe that satisfied smirk off his face. Dex just laughs and Nursey can’t help but grin either.

Hops wins the faceoff against Tango, but his play to Bully doesn’t make it through. Whiskey intercepts the puck and Nursey doesn’t get to him in time before he takes a shot at Sully. Sully denies him, though, and Bully gets the rebound on his stick.

He pushes back into their offensive zone. Nursey is right there with him on his left, blocking Dex. One the other side, Nursey spots Hops shielding Whiskey.

A few seconds before Ford blows the final whistle, Nursey gets the pass from Bully, shoots the puck and it slips right through Chowder’s five-hole before he can drop down and close it.

Nursey collects fistbumps from Bully and Hops as the rest of the time whoops around them, then skates over to Sully. 

“Good game,” he tells him with a grin. Sully has done really well during their practices as well as at the few games Chowder had so sit out with an injury, and Nursey thinks he may have what it takes to become starting goalie next year.

Sully beams at him through his mask. “Thanks, Nursey! Chowder was so good too, though.”

Nursey chuckles and agrees, then skates back over to their improvised bench that’s really just a line of folding chairs with towels and water bottles on them, hockey bags strewn around and between them. He takes off his helmet and runs his fingers through the curls plastered to his forehead.

Dex has his own helmet off, resting with his gloves on the chair in front of him, and he squirts some water on his neck when Nursey stops next to him.

“Good game, Poindexter,” Nursey says as he watches the water and sweat drip down into Dex’s jersey.

“You weren’t so bad yourself,” Dex returns. He puts the water bottle back onto the chair in front of him, then he turns to smirk at Nursey. “Came to cash in your prize?”

Nursey slides forward until he almost bumps into Dex’s chest. “Yup,” he confirms, popping the p. “I fought real hard for it.”

Dex rolls his eyes, then huffs out a laugh. “Well, your goal through C’s legs was really pretty. Almost as pretty as you.”

“Aw, Dexy, you think I’m pretty?” Nursey coos, clutching at his chest. 

“Shut up,” Dex mutters as he fists his hand in the front of Nursey’s jersey and pulls him in the last inch.

Nursey feels him smile into the kiss. He lets his helmet clatter to the ice, so he can bring his hands to Dex’s sides. Nursey thinks he hears the click of a camera, but he couldn’t care less right now.

When they pull away, a few of the guys close by cheer for them with wolf whistles and Louis calls, “Good picture, Cap!” from his chair, waving his camera.

“Can we fine them for this?” Hugs asks as he stops next to them and grabs a bottle.

“Captain’s PDA is not fineable,” Whiskey mutters when he joins them.

“I’ve tried,” Louis mourns.

“Alright,” Dex says. He lets go of Nursey’s jersey, then pats him on the chest once before slipping his helmet and gloves back on and skating toward the center of the ice. “New game, different teams,” he calls.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ five. _

Graduation comes and passes quicker than Dex ever thought it would.

One moment he’s baking a pie or taking a test or winning the NCAA championship, then the next he’s standing on stage wearing his cap and gown with his diploma in hand.

After the ceremony, he barely makes it to Nursey and Chowder before Chowder pulls the three of them into the tightest hug of Dex’s life. All he can really do is wrap his arms around Nursey’s and Chowder’s waists and cling on just as tightly.

He’s pretty sure Chowder is sniffling, taking turns wiping his nose on Dex’s and Nursey’s shoulders, and if Dex is being honest, he’s damn close himself.

He almost cried when Chowder’s name was called and he got his diploma handed to him, congratulating him on graduating cum laude. And he definitely shed a tear or two when Nursey was up, shaking hands and graduating summa cum laude. He’s proud of his friends, sue him.

“We’re not the Frogs anymore,” Chowder says when he pulls back. His voice is sad, almost defeated, and his eyes are definitely red.

“We’ll always be the Frogs,” Dex reassures him, patting him on the back.

“Yeah, C,” Nursey adds, “nothing’s gonna tear us apart. Frogs for _life_.”

“Fuck yeah,” Chowder agrees and sniffles again, “Frogs for life. We have to visit each other as often as possible. Definitely Skype, like, every night.”

Dex chuckles. “Promise.”

“Definitely,” Nursey repeats, then cranes his neck to look around. “Where’s Farmer, by the way?”

“Oh,” Chowder says, like he just realized, “she’s with her parents right now. Pretty sure she said she’ll come over later, though.”

“Chill.”

“Boys,” Nursey’s mom, Samantha Nurse, calls from a couple feet away where she and her wife Gabriela waited to let them hug it out. “Pose for some pictures!” Gabriela waves her phone at them.

Samantha and Gabriela rope them into more pictures than Dex thought anyone could ever need. Nursey—looking so fucking beautful in the afternoon light in his cap and gown, happiness and pride all over his face—poses like a champ for the approximately fifty pictures Gabriela takes of him, and then it’s Dex’s turn. Gabriela doesn’t let him talk his way out of it and snaps a lot more pictures of Dex and his diploma than he expects.

They insist on getting pictures of Dex and Nursey together—to show at their wedding, Gabriela teases and Dex sputters. Chowder joins them for a bunch of Frog group pictures that end with everyone teary-eyed and holding onto each other’s shoulders for dear life again. 

Gabriela then hands her phone over to Chowder with a soft  _ would you, honey? _ and tucks herself into Nursey’s other side, wrapping her arm around his waist as Samantha does the same to Dex. He’s sure they look comical, Samantha and Gabriela barely reach his and Nursey’s shoulders.

By the time the phone camera clicks—of course Gabriela has the sound on—Dex’s face hurts.

As Chowder hands the phone back over to Gabriela, Dex turns to Nursey. “We did it,” he says, lips tugging upward.

Nursey chuckles and reaches out with his free hand to tangle their fingers together. “We did it,” he agrees.

Dex squeezes his hand and Nursey squeeze his right back. “We’re going to live together.” 

Technically, they don’t know yet which apartment they’ll get, but wherever they end up in Boston, it will be _theirs_. Dex can’t wait. 

Dex can’t wait to wake up next to Nursey every morning in a bed that actually fits both of them comfortably. Can’t wait to kiss him goodbye before he goes to work and kiss him hello when he gets back. Can’t wait to argue with Nursey about whether they should adopt a cat or a dog, just to decide to get both anyway. Can’t wait to cook with Nursey next to him in their kitchen. Can’t wait to invite all their friends over.

Dex can’t wait to build his life with Nursey right next to him.

He tugs Nursey closer to him. “I fucking love you, Derek Nurse,” he croaks out as his vision goes a little blurry. This is hardly the first time he’s said it to Nursey, but it feels like it. Exciting, exhilarating, warm. Right.

“I love you too,” Nursey laughs wetly, then sniffles. Dex’s phone buzzes twice in his pocket. He ignores it.

Dex lets go of Nursey’s hand and wraps his arms around Nursey’s neck instead, careful not to hit him in the face with his diploma. Nursey’s hands settle on Dex’s waist as Dex leans in and kisses Nursey with all the giddiness and excitement itching under his skin. Nursey kisses him back just as eagerly and the smile that it drags out of Dex nearly breaks their kiss.

He hears the click of Gabriela’s phone camera. When he pulls away, he finds her and Samantha smiling at them, a little teary-eyed themselves. “Congrats, boys,” Samantha says, and it sounds like she might mean more than just graduating with honors.

“I could fine you guys right now,” Chowder starts and Dex notices Farmer tucked into his side, “but I won’t. Because I’m nice like that.” Farmer laughs and kisses Chowder’s cheek. Chowder’s smile gets impossibly wider.

“How benevolent,” Nursey snorts and tears himself away from Dex.

“How will we ever pay you back for your generosity?” Dex asks, chuckling, as he pulls out his own phone.

He finds two texts from his mom and his smile falters.

Mom  
  
**Today** 4:10 PM  
Hey hun! We thought we could stay longer but your dad said we gotta leave now to beat the traffic :-( So so proud of you though! Have fun with your friends! We can’t wait to see you when you come up! :-) Love you  
**Today** 4:12 PM  
Congrats to Derek too! :-)  


Dex frowns down at his phone. He was pretty sure both of his parents got off work for the entire weekend.

“Everything alright, babe?” Nursey asks. When Dex looks up, he sees a worried crease between his eyebrows.

“Oh, uh.” Dex slips his phone back into his pocket. He’ll just reply later. “My parents had to leave already. They say congrats, though.”

Nursey smiles at him, so soft and in love that he can't help but smile back.

Dex has approximately three seconds to feel bad about missing his parents before he hears someone that sounds a lot like Holster yelling his name, mixed in with Ransom clamoring for Chowder and Shitty screaming for Nursey.

Then he gets pulled into the biggest group hug since Bitty’s graduation last year. His face gets shoved into an armpit for a second, his hair gets thoroughly ruffled, and he thinks someone tiny leaps onto his back.

“The frogs are all grown up,” he hears Bitty sigh as an arm tightens around his waist.

Once the hug dissolves, Dex catches sight of _everyone_. Lardo and Shitty, Ransom and Holster, Jack and Bitty. All of the underclassmen. Ford's girlfriend Nick.

Dex loves this stupid team, even if he’s not a part of it anymore.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ six. _

Nursey’s arms hurt.

He’s been carrying boxes filled with his and Dex’s belongings and the furniture they—or rather, Dex—will have to assemble later up to their new apartment all afternoon. He feared it would never end, but now he has the second to last box in his hands. It’s heavy, so it’s probably filled with more of his books, even though they’ve already hauled, like, five boxes of those up.

Nursey looks up at the building as Jack takes the very last box—a couple of Dex’s houseplants—out of the moving van. They managed to get an apartment in Roxbury, in a red brick building. It looks almost quaint and Nursey loves it.

His eyes fall to the door bell nameplates and when he spots  _ Nurse/Poindexter  _ almost at the top, he smiles. Their names kind of sound nice together like that. He allows himself to think about writing it down on a paper, hyphenated, after his own first and middle name, then he shakes the thought away.

His gaze drops down a couple of rows and lands on _Chow/Farmer_. Chowder actually called Dex and him in the middle of the night after he and Farmer got confirmation that they’re all moving into the same building.

He wonders if, once they’re at that stage in life, they’ll buy houses next to each other too. Or on the same street at the very least. Nursey kind of really hopes so. They could visit each other to watch hockey, celebrate the holidays together in one of their living rooms, Chowder’s kids could—

Jack’s voice pops his bubble. “You ready to go, Nursey?” he asks, now standing behind Nursey. A big plant pokes out of the box in his hands.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Nursey says and pushes the door open.

When they make it up and into the actual apartment—Jack insisted on taking the stairs—they set the boxes down against the wall of the hallway. Nursey hears someone puttering around in their kitchen and he’s pretty sure it’s Bitty. Jack takes a left toward the noise as Nursey sets out for the living room ahead.

He finds Chowder, Farmer, Shitty, and Lardo piled onto the couch—they had to drag it up the narrow stairwell earlier since it wouldn’t fit into the tiny elevator—and Ransom occupying the armchair that used to be in Dex’s room at the Haus with Holster on the floor between his legs. 

Nursey spots Dex across from the couch on one of the boxes of still unassembled furniture that’s on its side, the edge barely wide enough for him to sit on. He has two cans of beer in his hands and when Nursey approaches him, he smiles.

Nursey takes the snapback off his head and puts it backward on Dex instead. “We’re done.”

Dex wrinkles his nose. It’s really fucking cute. “We still have, like, so many things to build and take our shit out of the boxes,” he points out. “And _decorate_.”

“Yeah, well,” Nursey starts, his own smile growing even wider, “it’s all here though. We’re technically moved in.”

“Yeah, true.” Dex concedes and grins up at him. He feels so, so full. 

“Our first apartment.” His voice is just pure awe and admiration at this point and Nursey can’t find it in him to be embarrassed. 

“First of many,” Dex says, like it doesn’t mean nearly the world to Nursey.

Nursey’s practically beaming when he nods. “Can’t wait.” He cups both of Dex’s cheeks and takes a second to run his thumbs right across his freckles before he leans down to kiss him.

Dex’s hands come up to rest on Nursey’s hip as he kisses back and just like that all that matters is Dex, and Dex’s lips on his.

Then the only thing Nursey can think about is being in Dex’s lap, wrapped up in his arms. Fines and chirps and an uncomfortable place to sit be damned. He doesn’t break the kiss as he pushes forward, bracketing Dex’s legs between his own as he moves to straddle him.

All Nursey gets is a warning sound from Dex and Dex’s hands pushing at his hips before the box topples over backward and Dex falls, pulling Nursey down with him.

Dex’s back and the box hit their hardwood floor with a thud and Nursey barely manages to catch himself on his arms before he crashes into Dex too.

Nursey grins down at the scowl Dex shoots him. “Oops,” he tries and watches Dex roll his eyes and then, reluctantly, start to smile.

When he sits back up, Nursey notices that everyone around them has gone quiet, except for Farmer saying, “Nice one, Chris.”

“Gotta get the receipts,” Lardo agrees and moves to high five Chowder as Nursey gets to his feet and pulls Dex up after him. 

“Did you take a picture of us falling?” Dex asks, a little incredulous. He rights the box and grabs the beer cans, passing one to Nursey.

“Of you guys sucking face,” Farmer amends, dead serious, and Nursey can’t help but laugh. "To show at your wedding."

“It was cute,” Chowder allows, “but that’s also  _ such  _ a fine.”

Before Nursey can whip out his wallet—a fine for kissing his boyfriend is a fine he’s happy to pay—or Dex can defend them, Bitty and Jack come through the doorway, carrying a pie tin, a couple of forks and plates, and looking a little more disheveled than the move actually requires. Nursey really thinks they should get fined, too.

“We dug through some of y’all’s boxes for the plates and forks, I hope you boys don’t mind,” Bitty says as he starts plating slices of pie—it looks like he brought rhubarb pie, hell yeah—and handing them out to the impatient hands around him.

Later, they’ll have an endless amount of boxes to unpack and things to store away and furniture to assemble, but for now, there’s beer and pie and their favorite people in  _ their  _ living room.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ seven. _

Will takes a deep breath as he plays with the foot of his champagne glass, turning it around in circles. The music is playing in the background, the light is dimmed, and he sits at his table all by himself.

Until a few minutes ago, Will was handed off from relative to in-law to coworker to friend, wrapped up in squeezing hugs and tight handshakes and claps on the shoulder. Derek is probably still stuck somewhere talking to one of the few of Will’s uncles that actually showed up.

Near the bar, Will spots a couple of Derek’s work friends getting more of the cake. At a table closeby, some of his coworkers are taking shots with Lardo and Shitty. He’s pretty sure they’ll regret that in the morning and complain to Will when they see him again at work after the honeymoon. A handful of couples are taking up the dancefloor—Chowder and Farmer at the center with Ford and Nick nearby and Will thinks he spots his own parents toward the sidelines.

He smiles into his glass as he lifts it to take a sip. The champagne has gotten a little warm while he was roped into after-wedding duties no one prepared him for, but it’s fine.

When he sets his glass back down on the table, his wedding ring catches the light. His smile widens as he marvels at it and all it stands for. He’s married. To Derek. He’s William Jacob Poindexter-Nurse. Now and for the rest of his life.

“Hey.”

Will’s eyes snap up at the sound of Derek’s voice to find him standing there, leaning against the chair next to Will’s. He’s smiling down at Will, looking absolutely breathtaking in his white dress shirt and maroon tie that matches Will’s dark green one. They’ve both lost their jackets a couple of hours ago and Derek’s rolled up his sleeves and undone his tie by now.

“Hey,” Will returns and shifts in his chair to face Derek properly.

“May I have this dance?”

“Um,” Will starts, a grin beginning to pull at his lips, “I have a husband, actually.”

“Oh yeah?” Derek holds out a hand and he’s grinning now too. Will really wants to kiss him. Kiss his _husband_.

Will takes Derek’s hand and lets him pull him up. “Yeah,” he says, “he’s really handsome.”

Derek walks backward to the dancefloor, dragging Will with him. Then he rests his hands on Will’s waist as a slow song takes over. “What a coincidence,” Derek says quietly and Will drapes his arms over his shoulders. “My husband is super handsome too.”

Will’s cheeks heat up as he laughs. Derek laughs too, then, and Will falls in love with him all over again.

They move to the music, more swaying than any real dancing, without breaking eye contact.

“I love you,” Will whispers into the space between them after a moment.

“I love you too,” Derek shoots back without missing a beat.

“I’m glad it’s you.” Will moves a hand to the back of Derek’s neck, running his thumb over the warm skin there just below his hair. Derek smiles softly at him, but there’s a confused tilt to his mouth, so Will keeps going. “I’m glad I fell in love with _you_. I’m glad I got to marry _you_. I can’t wait for the rest of our lives together.”

Derek’s smile grows, confusion gone now, and Will thinks it’s fine if he never sees anything else ever again. “I’m glad it’s you too,” he says as his hands tighten on Will’s waist, warmth seeping through the fabric of Will’s dress shirt, and he leans in for a kiss.

Kissing back, Will isn’t sure he could ever be happier than he is right now. 

Their kiss is slow, a soft and sweet thing, full of anticipation and promise and excitement and _happiness_.

The quiet sound of a camera shutter pulls them back to reality. Reluctantly, Will breaks the kiss and turns his head to where the noise came from. He spots Jack standing between two tables, smiling at them with Bitty—who looks like he might start crying any second now—tucked into his side. He waves the camera he’s been taking pictures with all evening at them, his own wedding ring gleaming in the low light.

Will shoots them a thankful smile and a nod and makes a mental note to ask Jack for the picture tomorrow. For now, though, Will turns back toward his husband.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ \+ one. _

Derek wakes up like usual, cozy in bed, lying on his side and wrapped around Will. 

He sighs and squeezes where his arm is strewn across Will’s waist as he buries his face deeper into Will’s collarbone.

Derek wakes up like he never has before, as Derek Malik Nurse-Poindexter.

A smile settles on Derek’s lips that he promptly presses into Will’s skin once, twice, three times. Will doesn’t stir, so Derek assumes he’s been awake for a while now.

Derek lets go of Will, of his _husband_ , and rolls onto his back. He takes a moment to stretch, still a little sore but content from last night, before he opens his eyes.

Looking around the hotel room, Derek sees both of their suits hastily but still somewhat cleanly thrown over the backs of the room’s armchairs—thank God they had half the mind to do that when they stumbled in, a little tipsy on champagne and a lot drunk on each other—and both their phones lying on the table between them. Derek thinks the pulse light on Will’s phone might be blinking. Probably more congratulations.

Next to him, Will’s movement rustles the sheets and when Derek turns around to look at him, Will has propped himself up on one of his elbows, smiling over at Derek.

“Hey,” Derek rasps, voice still not quite awake yet.

Will clears his throat and says, “Morning.”

Derek looks him at him for a moment, traces the freckles on his cheeks and chin and forehead, takes in his messy hair—which may or may not be mainly his fault—and bright eyes, cherishes his lips that were kissing him not even eight hours ago.

Will is his _husband_. For real.

“You’re my husband,” Derek says, simply, awe creeping into his voice.

“Yup,” Will confirms, easily, like he’s said it a million times already. The giddy smile on his face betrays him, though.

Derek laughs. It just bubbles right out of him as he scoots closer to Will. He only stops laughing so he can kiss him, morning breath and all. To his surprise, Will doesn’t complain or push him away or tell him to go brush his teeth. He just snakes a hand up Derek’s back to his neck as he kisses him slowly, gently holding him there.

“We’re married for real,” Derek repeats when he manages to pull back again.

“Sure are,” Will says casually and starts to play with the buzzed part of Derek’s hair. It makes Derek shiver in the best way and he’s pretty sure Will’s smile slips into something more like a smirk.

All Derek can do is kiss Will again. He pushes him onto his back and straddles his hips without breaking the kiss. He holds his weight up with his forearms on either side of Will’s head, but he thinks he might lose all of his strength when Will moves one hand between his shoulder blades and one slides down to the small of his back. He can’t help but grin slightly and hum in appreciation.

Eventually, when they’re both smiling too wide to keep kissing, Derek sits back up and drops his hands to his side. He spends a moment to take Will in again, lying there underneath Derek with his hands resting on his chest, a couple of fresh and some fading hickies scattered across his torso. This is Will, candid. Will, happy. Will, _his_.

It hits Derek again that he gets this for the rest of his life.

He’s not sure where exactly life will take them. Maybe they’ll stay in Boston, maybe they’ll move back to New York, or maybe they’ll end up somewhere else entirely. Maybe they’ll expand their little family, maybe they won’t.

Derek isn’t sure what the future has in store for them, but he does know one thing for sure. No matter where they end up, Will will be there right beside him for all of it, until they’re both old and wrinkly and gray. And probably even beyond that.

He can’t wait.

“What?” Will asks and he’s blushing a little as he smiles up at Derek. Derek loves that, after years together, his gaze can still make Will flush.

“Oh, y’know,” Derek starts and shrugs one shoulder, “just wondering what my husband looks like naked.”

Will bursts out laughing, a loud and beautiful thing that crinkles the corners of his eyes, shakes his shoulders, and makes Derek grin in triumph every time he gets one of them out of him. “Didn’t get enough last night?” Will asks once he’s calmed down again. His hands settle on Derek’s thighs, his thumb tracing back and forth over the tattoo there.

“Of you?” Derek leans down and Will moves his hands to the side of Derek’s thighs in anticipation. He kisses Will slowly once, twice, three times. “Never,” he promises.

“Oh, shut up,” Will laughs and pulls Derek back in. Their next kiss is a lot less sweet and a lot more urgent, and Derek gets the feeling they’re not getting out of bed for room service anytime soon.

It’s fine, though. The rest of their lives together starts right now, right here and there’s nowhere Derek would rather be.

**Author's Note:**

> ngozi didn't provide me with a second goalie, so i had to make my own. meet joseph sullivan, 6'6" giant and samwell men's hockey's backup goalie. he chose the jersey number five for chowder. rip to his two older and also hockey playing siblings.
> 
> nick from parts five and seven is jo's wonderful oc! learn more about her [here](https://deniceford.tumblr.com/post/635066760920465408/tell-the-people-about-fords-girlfriend-nick)! honestly, you won't regret it.
> 
> come find me on tumblr at [hashtagdex](https://hashtagdex.tumblr.com)!
> 
> i hope you had as much fun reading this as i had writing it! <3
> 
> EDIT: there is now [fanart](https://adambirkholtz.tumblr.com/post/640155598330183680/hashtagdexs-fic-photo-proofed-kisses-i-remember) of this fic!!! thank you so much, em!!!
> 
> ps: the sequel to [i always knew (it's always you)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26691208/) is still happening... i swear...


End file.
